The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River

The speckled sea trout bite in our area is really good during April, but it gets even better in May.

Right now the Indian River, Banana River, and Mosquito lagoons all have good numbers of sea trout in them of all sizes.   Anglers have been catching good sized sea trout throughout our region in all three of our lagoons on both live baits and artificial lures. 

Although live baits have definitely been working better than artificial baits, the exception is first thing in the morning when you can find pods of mullet milling around on the flats and along the mangroves. 

In these areas, you can often find large egg laden females in their spawning mode roaming the shallower flats after the baitfish pods.

During the early morning hours from first light until around 9:00 am, the egg laden females are not as cautious as they normally are and will hit almost any large topwater bait that mimics a silver mullet.

Anglers fishing these areas are now catching big sea trout in the 20 to 25 inch range on larger "walk the dog" style topwater baits like Skitterwalks, XPS Slim Dogs, BadonkAdonks, Zara Spooks, and Chug Bugs. 

5" Saltwater Shad Assassins rigged on a 5/0 wide gap weedless worm hook and D.O.A. Baitbusters fished around the bait pods are also deadly baits, especially when smeared up with some Pro-Cure Inshore Formula Gel.  It makes a huge difference.  

Although there have not been any reports of huge gator trout in the 30 inch range being caught; several fish in the 27 to 29 inch category were reported over the past weeks in the northern section of the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon.

Eventually some angler using a live pogie, croaker, or mullet worked around the mullet, glass minnow, or silverside pods will land a gator over 30 inches.

From very first light to about 15 to 20 minutes after sunup seems to be the best time to fish for really big gator trout.

                              

Fishing live pilchards, pogies, croakers, or mullet in the residential canals, creek mouth openings, and anywhere there is mangrove cover available can potentially get you a hookup with a gator trout this month.

The overhanging mangroves along the undercut banks in the Edgewater area harbors some big trout in the mid 20 to upper 26 inch range.

Historically another good area to target big sea trout is where the Banana River and Indian River meet in the Dragon Point area.  Fishing around the rocky areas, mangroves, and docks with live baits is normally extremely productive in this area.

Farther south, between the Vero and Grant area, some of the biggest gator trout have been holding on the spoil islands and bars.

We have had really good sea trout spawns for the last two years which is why there are so many smaller size trout in the lagoon system.  The Houdini and Mama's 14K colored Assassin Sea Shad are the top "go to" baits right now for just about any size fish if you like pitching artificial baits.   Hopefully at least a few of these smaller trout will grow up to become gators.

The redfish fish bite in the Mosquito Lagoon on the shallow flats and along the overhanging mangroves on the east side has also been pretty good and should continue throughout this month.  

Target areas where the the dolphin have a hard time getting into an area to follow the fish.  Mullet and other baitfish are in very shallow water in these flats to get away from the dolphin and the redfish are in there with them, especially early and late in the day. 

You can get the reds on paddle tail saltwater assassins, gold spoons, and small topwater baits that don't create too much of a disturbance.

The water temperature is getting just right for redfish right now, especially if you like using topwater plugs like I do.

In the Mosquito Lagoon, target the mullet pods in the early mornings with nothing but large topwater plugs until about 8:30 am when the bite stops; and then switch to jigs, paddle tails, etc.  

Most of the reds are running from about 20 to 25 inches with some fish in the early mornings pushing 30 inches or more.

                                        

The snook bite last month in the lagoon system has been very good, especially up in the areas around Ponce Inlet.

Anglers targeting the docks and pilings in the Edgewater and New Smyrna areas of the river with live croaker, spots, or mullet during the last portion of the incoming tide were doing quite well for slot and over size snook.

Night fishermen tossing R&R Flairhawk Jigs along the shadow lines have also been catching good numbers of snook and when the tide is not ripping too fast around the pilings, a live jumbo shrimp is undoubtedly the best bait to fish for big snook in those areas.

The best time to fish a live shrimp around the bridges is during a tide change when the water flow is slow or just beginning to pick up.  Fishing the oyster bars in Spruce Creek, Calalusia Creek, Brown's Bay and a couple of other backwater bays is also productive.

Most of the snook caught in the Ponce Inlet area have been running in the 21 to 30 inch category with a few larger fish in the mix.

                                           

The black drum bite in the Mosquito Lagoon and throughout the lagoon system is still going strong.

Slot size drum are roaming the flats foraging on shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans.   The usual haunts like the bridges, channels, spoil islands, and deeper waters in Haulover Canal are also producing some larger drum in the 20 to 30 pound and over category.

When you spot a school of drum wagging their tails on the flats, toss a live shrimp or a jig head sweetened with a piece of peeled shrimp, sand flea, or a strip of Fishbites ahead of the fish and slowly drag the bait along the bottom.  Dragging the bait covers more territory and creates little puffs of muddy sediment that attracts feeding fish.

A 4 inch saltwater assassin sea shad tipped with Fishbites is also a great lure to throw when you're on the deeper flats trying to locate some black drum.   Hop the bait over the bottom for best results.

Most of the black drum caught in our area right now have been running in the 20 to 30 pound category.
 

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Playalinda and Area Beaches

Although good numbers of pompano, whiting, bluefish, Jack Crevalle, and croakers are normally in the surf during April and May, this past week has produced tons of catfish, small whiting, and spots.  

The rough surf conditions and east winds are pushing in a lot of weeds onto the beach in most areas making good surf fishing a challenge, to say the least. 
 

For the best shot at catching some pompano, try fishing the incoming tide with live sand fleas or fresh shrimp on a standard two or three hook surf rig with enough lead to hold bottom.

Baits of choice for pompano during the past weeks were peeled shrimp, sand fleas (when you can get them), and Fishbites.   A few surf fishermen in the Coco Beach area have been using fiddler crabs and fresh clam strips with good results.

If you can't purchase or find sand fleas, you can still catch fish using fresh peeled shrimp and Fishbites or a combination of the two.  In most areas, casting just outside the breakers has been producing larger pompano and whiting.

Most pompano and whiting in our area have been running around 1 to 2 pounds with an occasional heavier fish in the mix.

Surf fishermen targeting sharks are still having a bonanza fishery all along our East Central area beaches.  

Blacktips, lemon sharks, and bull sharks made up the majority of catches along with a few bonnet heads.  Fresh chunks of bluefish, ladyfish, or mullet tossed into the first and second troughs are where most bites occurred but a bait presented beyond the surf break won't last long before a shark will pick it up.

When you specifically target shark, use appropriate tackle.  Heavyweight rods, high capacity reels, braided line in the 60 pound or heavier class, and 100 pound or better mono or wire leaders with large 12/0 to 15/0 circle hooks are the norm for these heavyweights.

Also, keep your free shore fishing shark permit with you when fishing from the beach.

                                                 

Blacktips and lemon sharks in our area like the one above are running anywhere from 20 to 90 pounds. 
 

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Port  Canaveral Offshore and Nearshore


May is here and summer is just around the corner but for the most part, windy conditions have made decent offshore fishing a challenge.  

The east winds offshore normally mean lots of weeds and Sargassum blowing onto the beach and that's exactly what is happening right now.   The winds are creating lots of rips, eddies, weed lines, and temperature breaks along the west end of the Gulfstream from north of Ponce Inlet all the way down to Sebastian.  

Although the seas have been really rough for the past weeks, the larger boats that managed to make it offshore and fish the rips, color changes, and temperature breaks were finding some nice dolphin in the real legends area.  Trolling small naked or skirted ballyhoo at 4 to 6 knots covers more water and will eliminate a lot of unproductive areas quickly.  

For dolphin; light colored trolling skirts like green and yellow, blue and white, zucchini, and pink and white usually work better over a ballyhoo than the darker colored skirts.

There are not yet a lot of dolphin in the area, and the ones that are here are concentrated into small packs, so once you find a spot with fish feeding around it, work the area thoroughly.

Most of the dolphin that are being caught right now are in the 5 to 10 pound category

The Atlantic grouper season opens today and with any kind of luck, the winds will calm down enough for us to pick up a few nice fish.

Most of the charter boats out of Port Canaveral will be running out to structure in the 160 to 240 foot depths for gag, scamps, and red grouper.

A good grouper rig that many charter captains start out using is a 12 to 16 ounce sinker with 100 pound main line and about 5 feet of 80 to 100 pound mono as a leader. 

When using this setup, everyone on the boat should be using the same rig with the same size baits.  This is important because if someone changes to a lighter leader, fluorocarbon, or a different size bait, the fish will almost immediately switch to the other rig.  If the fish don't bite on the first setup, switch to a lighter leader and different bait. 

Deep sea fishermen out of the Sunrise Marina in Port Canaveral fishing off the Ocean Obsession have reported catching solid fish when they are able to get out. 

Lane snapper, vermillion snapper, mangrove snapper, black sea bass, and triggerfish are the main species caught with occasional hookups with cobia and kingfish.

For the big boat anglers able to get out to the Gulfstream, the action for yellowfin tuna has been good around the 120 mile buoy.   The captains trolling naked or skirted ballyhoo or cedar plugs are hooking up with tunas up to 40 pounds.

As the waters continue to warm this month, the bite along the beaches and inlets will become better for snook, tarpon, bull redfish, Jack Crevalle and other inshore species.

During May, the King Mackerel bite our of Port Canaveral can be hot one day, and deader than Fred the next.   The key to catching them in the East Central region is to "run and gun".  

If those 70 to 90 foot reefs don't produce any fish, move farther inshore where the bigger kings tend to move, especially after a big blow.   Look for patches of weeds closer to the beach where the baitfish are hiding and you will often find king mackerel underneath and after them.

Throughout the month, the kingfish bite on most of the reefs and wrecks in the 60 to 90 foot depths out of Port Canaveral should be good for anglers slow trolling live or frozen baits on wire stinger rigs.  Strip baits behind a planer also work well when the fish are down deep.  

A good number of anglers catch King Mackerel by dragging lipped diving plugs around first thing in the morning and later on in the afternoon during low light periods.    Pulling a King Getter or a large spoon also works if you don't like fooling with live baits.

This month, the 8A and Chris Benson Reefs our of Port Canaveral, Pelican Flats to the east and southeast in 70 to 80 feet of water, and the artificial reefs out of Ponce Inlet should all be spots to target kingfish.

The kingfish in our area generally run anywhere from 8 to 15 pounds, with some fish tipping over 20 pounds.   Many of the larger King Mackerel caught in the shallower 35 to 55 foot depths throughout our region often get up to 50 pounds in weight.

Remember,  Grouper season opens up today and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate, which is why a lot of the party boats out of the port are pretty well booked up.   
 

 Time to dust off your bottom rigs!

Until Next Time,
Tight Lines, and Bent Rods!